The Keeper

One morning when the world was new And first we saw the sun The Lord lay down to rest awhile So pleased with what he'd done And of all the creatures he had made He loved the man the best And so he placed into his hands The fate of all the rest And all these things I give to you To keep and to protect From the greatest of the big sperm whale To the tiniest insect To rule with love and kindness The weak, the wild, the strong And treat my creatures gently Only you know right from wrong Man was so conceited That he couldn't see the worth Of all the other creatures That shared the lovely earth And one by one he hunted them For food and sport and greed One by one they disappeared Each species and each breed And all these things I give to you To keep and to protect From the greatest of the big sperm whale To the tiniest insect To rule with love and kindness The weak, the wild, the strong And treat my creatures gently Only you know right from wrong After many years had passed The Lord came back to see The man and all the others That he'd left so fine and free But where are all my silver streams And forests dark and green There was only dust and desert Wherever man had been And all these things I give to you To keep and to protect From the greatest of the big sperm whale To the tiniest insect To rule with love and kindness The weak, the wild, the strong And treat my creatures gently Only you know right from wrong Where are all my animals The hippo and the whale And the fish that filled the oceans Before your ships set sail The lion and the tiger And the elephant so tall I left you as their keeper Do you not recall And all these things I gave to you To keep and to protect From the greatest of the big sperm whale To the tiniest insect To rule with love and kindness The weak, the wild, the strong And treat my creatures gently Only you know right from wrong